For 16 years no one has threatened Dave Concepcion's property rights to that area of clay and soil midway between second and third base.''Nobody knows that area better,'' the Cincinnati Reds starting shortstop said Wednesday while surveying the area at Al Lopez Field. The Reds defeated a Minnesota Twins split squad, 3-2, before 3,607 on their home turf shortly thereafter.For the first time since Concepcion worked his way into the starting spot in 1970, winning the job after a two-year understudy role to Woody Woodward, he has come into camp feeling threatened.

TAVARES -- A Sorrento-area man was arrested Monday and charged with sexually battering a 13-year-old girl. Raymond L. Concepcion, 42, went to the Lake County Sheriff's Office headquarters Monday to report a theft. While he was there, a detective recognized Concepcion as the target of an ongoing sexual-battery investigation and called the State Attorney's Office to check the investigation's status, said Capt. Todd Luce, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. The State Attorney's Office told the detective it was moments away from getting a warrant for Concepcion's arrest.

Cincinnati Reds fans could be looking at a revitalized Dave Concepcion this season.Thanks to Pete Rose, who returned to the Reds late last season as a playing manager after nearly a six-year absence, Concepcion is finding that old spark again.There's a twinkle in the shortstop's eye this spring and his 36-year-old body is charged up again.''I know I can still play, and it's fun again,'' Concepcion said as he was taking batting practice before Tuesday's 7-6 victory over Minnesota.The last two seasons have been dismal for Concepcion and for the Reds.

BROWARD COUNTY -- A Broward County Sheriff's Office deputy was stabbed early Sunday, and authorities were searching for the suspect. Sheriff's office dispatchers received a call at 2:12 a.m. from Sgt. Lisa Disavino saying she had been stabbed in the stomach, sheriff's spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said. Disavino had called in minutes earlier to report that she was going to check on a suspicious man who was standing near a bus stop in Tamarac, Concepcion said. Authorities went to the scene and Disavino, 29, was transported to Broward General Hospital in good condition, Concepcion said.

More than a year after participating in a two-county crime spree that included robberies and carjackings and ended with the death of one of his accomplices, Alfonso Concepcion pleaded guilty Thursday to 10 of the 14 felony charges against him. By accepting a plea deal offered by state prosecutors, Concepcion was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Orange County Circuit Judge Donald Grincewicz. If he is a model prisoner, the 36-year-old Kissimmee man could be out of prison in about 21 years.

Shortstop Onix Concepcion, who was waived before the season by the Kansas City Royals, signed a minor-league contract with the club Friday. Concepcion will report to Omaha of the American Association. Concepcion, who signed with the Royals in 1976 and had played with Kansas City the past three seasons, underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on his right knee after his release and will join Omaha on the disabled list. Concepcion, who batted .204 in 131 games last season and has a .238 career mark, was released in favor of Buddy Biancalana.

TAVARES -- A Sorrento-area man was arrested Monday and charged with sexually battering a 13-year-old girl. Raymond L. Concepcion, 42, went to the Lake County Sheriff's Office headquarters Monday to report a theft. While he was there, a detective recognized Concepcion as the target of an ongoing sexual-battery investigation and called the State Attorney's Office to check the investigation's status, said Capt. Todd Luce, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. The State Attorney's Office told the detective it was moments away from getting a warrant for Concepcion's arrest.

EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGE. Ex-President Salvador Jorge Blanco embezzled $35 million in a kickback scheme, Judge Francia Concepcion charges. He ordered the purchase of police and army vehicles and equipment at three times their value, Concepcion said in an order. Seven others, including the former heads of the armed forces and the police, also are accused. Jorge Blanco, 60, who served from 1982 to 1986, fled the country when Concepcion ordered him to prison in March. He went to Atlanta for treatment of a heart ailment.

There's so much for Ramon Concepcion to do. He must gather photographs of his stepfather, Whilma Rosa, to take to New York. He must also find a comb or hairbrush with hair for DNA tests to help officials identify Rosa's remains. And he must find a way to tell his 9-year-old stepsister, daddy's little girl. "She understands death, but I don't think she understands that her father is dead," Concepcion said. Then there is his mother, too stricken with grief to talk with her son and daughter.

Bartow -- A Davenport man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for crushing a woman's leg as he stole her car, leading to the limb's amputation. Kevin Rhoton, 26, stared at the floor Friday as his victim, Bethzaida Concepcion, wept while describing the pain and loss she has suffered since she was injured June 13 outside a Haines City convenience store. "He's taken something from me that he can never give back. I cannot stand on both my legs. I was born with both my legs, I had those legs for 36 years," said Concepcion, a mother of three.

Bartow -- A Davenport man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for crushing a woman's leg as he stole her car, leading to the limb's amputation. Kevin Rhoton, 26, stared at the floor Friday as his victim, Bethzaida Concepcion, wept while describing the pain and loss she has suffered since she was injured June 13 outside a Haines City convenience store. "He's taken something from me that he can never give back. I cannot stand on both my legs. I was born with both my legs, I had those legs for 36 years," said Concepcion, a mother of three.

HAINES CITY -- A woman was seriously injured Tuesday afternoon when someone tried to steal her car outside a convenience store, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported. Beth Zaida Concepcion, 36, was inside the Island Food Mart on East Hinson Avenue about 4:20 p.m. when she saw a man get into her green Infiniti parked outside, sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilder said. Concepcion ran out of the store and approached the car on the driver's side. The man put the car in reverse and accelerated while the door was open.

Class: Professional and Technical High School, 12th grade. Achievements: "Her outstanding academic achievement," said Jeanette Eddy, counselor. How is your accomplishment important to you? "My accomplishments are important to me because it proved to me that I can set a goal, no matter how high, and follow through. My accomplishments show that my dreams are at my fingertips." Favorite subject: "I truly love literature." Favorite activities: "I love to listen to music, read, write and watch movies."

SANTIAGO, Chile -- A false tsunami alarm sent thousands of people fleeing their homes early Monday in the southern city of Concepcion, authorities said. Three young men apparently ran across a beach about 2 a.m. shouting that a massive wave was coming, said regional Governor Rodrigo Diaz, calling the warning "a bad joke." As many as 12,000 people left their homes, he said. Radio reports from Concepcion, Chile's third-largest city, indicated the rumor spread quickly through the densely populated region on the Pacific Ocean.

There's so much for Ramon Concepcion to do. He must gather photographs of his stepfather, Whilma Rosa, to take to New York. He must also find a comb or hairbrush with hair for DNA tests to help officials identify Rosa's remains. And he must find a way to tell his 9-year-old stepsister, daddy's little girl. "She understands death, but I don't think she understands that her father is dead," Concepcion said. Then there is his mother, too stricken with grief to talk with her son and daughter.

Mary Ramirez knows her home needs some work, especially painting and landscaping. But as a cancer patient, she doesn't feel up to hauling out the paint cans or the garden tools. Calling a handyman is one solution, so Selling Points asked real estate agent Kimberly Bailey to bring one along when she visited recently to give Ramirez some home-selling tips. Ramirez lives in a three-bedroom, two-bath home in an east Orange County subdivision off Dean Road near the East-West Expressway. The home, which backs up to High Point Lake, has a one-car garage and about 1,100 square feet.

HAINES CITY -- A woman was seriously injured Tuesday afternoon when someone tried to steal her car outside a convenience store, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported. Beth Zaida Concepcion, 36, was inside the Island Food Mart on East Hinson Avenue about 4:20 p.m. when she saw a man get into her green Infiniti parked outside, sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilder said. Concepcion ran out of the store and approached the car on the driver's side. The man put the car in reverse and accelerated while the door was open.

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's Mapuche Indians Monday prepared to stage a Columbus Day protest in the nation's third-largest city to demand the return of lands they say Spanish conquistadors seized from them. About 5,000 Indians Tuesday were scheduled to complete a five-day march to Concepcion, 320 miles south of Santiago, with a demonstration on the day marking the 507th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. ``We will enter Concepcion on horseback, and there we hold the protest in the main square, a symbol of Spanish domination, on Columbus Day,'' said Adolfo Millabur, the mayor of Tirua, a mostly indigenous town near Concepcion.

More than a year after participating in a two-county crime spree that included robberies and carjackings and ended with the death of one of his accomplices, Alfonso Concepcion pleaded guilty Thursday to 10 of the 14 felony charges against him. By accepting a plea deal offered by state prosecutors, Concepcion was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Orange County Circuit Judge Donald Grincewicz. If he is a model prisoner, the 36-year-old Kissimmee man could be out of prison in about 21 years.

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's Mapuche Indians Monday prepared to stage a Columbus Day protest in the nation's third-largest city to demand the return of lands they say Spanish conquistadors seized from them. About 5,000 Indians Tuesday were scheduled to complete a five-day march to Concepcion, 320 miles south of Santiago, with a demonstration on the day marking the 507th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. ``We will enter Concepcion on horseback, and there we hold the protest in the main square, a symbol of Spanish domination, on Columbus Day,'' said Adolfo Millabur, the mayor of Tirua, a mostly indigenous town near Concepcion.